Long Island Abuse Case Reveals Risks of Out-of-State Foster Care
"Mr. Gonzales-Mugaburu's arrest prompted questions about why it took so long for the alleged abuse to be revealed. But it also drew attention to the practice of sending foster children far from the communities they knew — in this case, nearly 3,000 miles — to find a home."www.nytimes.com, September 13, 2016.

An 'Exemplary' Foster Father, a String of Suspicions and Sexual-Abuse Charges
"Over two decades, the city's child welfare agency sent 95 boys to live with Mr. Gonzales-Mugaburu, according to state records. Other child welfare agencies turned to him during that time as well. In all, 106 boys were placed with Mr. Gonzales-Mugaburu, as he became a sort of storybook hero to child welfare workers struggling to find suitable homes for troubled children.
Yet some of the boys who had been in his care tried to tell a different story to anyone who would listen — a school guidance counselor, or social workers. Anonymous tipsters called a child-abuse hotline that feeds reports into a statewide database."www.nytimes.com, APRIL 1, 2016.

Former U.S. Army Major, Wife Convicted of Torturing 3 Foster Kids
"A former U.S. Army major and his wife were convicted Wednesday of torturing their three foster children for years, breaking their bones, force-feeding them hot sauce, denying them water and using one of their biological kids to guard the toilet bowls so the foster children couldn't try to quench their thirst, authorities said."www.nbcnewyork.com, July 08, 2015.

Transparency lost in reviews of FL child abuse deaths
"In fact, though, reviews of each child death, required under federal law, have become increasingly thin and decreasingly critical, making it difficult for the public and the news media to gauge DCF's performance. At the same time, several respected, highly engaged members of the statewide Death Review Committee, under the auspices of Surgeon General John Armstrong, have been purged."Tampa Bay Times, December 20, 2014.

Bachelor Detective Takes on Case of Two Pittsburgh Boys
"Kids like 11–year–old Jessee and his 15–year–old brother Josh. Long before their date in court, Jack had been working with them. He really liked these kids and he knew the feeling was mutual. So when they just stopped showing up at the gym one day, Mook went out and found the older boy.
';And he looked terrible—bags under his eyes—12 years old,' recalled Mook.
'And he was asking me about it and then I just cried,' added Josh.
What Mook didn't know—what no one knew until that moment—was just how bad these kids had it. They were in a foster home with foster parents who Mook says were extremely abusive and neglectful....Jack has been their foster parent for almost two years now. And for this tough–guy detective, it's still quite a transition. He says the homework alone is brutal."CBS News, September 19, 2014.

Foster children become focus of California schools
"Until now, no state has attempted to identify every foster child in its public schools or to systematically track their progress, much less funnel funds toward those students or require school districts to show they are spending the money effectively.
That changed in California this month as part of a new school funding formula that will direct billions of extra dollars to districts based on how many students they have with low family incomes, learning to speak English or in foster care."Associated Press, July 13, 2014.

Changing pot laws prompt child endangerment review
"A Colorado man loses custody of his children after getting a medical marijuana card. The daughter of a Michigan couple growing legal medicinal pot is taken by child–protection authorities after an ex–husband says their plants endangered kids. And police officers in New Jersey visit a home after a 9–year–old mentions his mother's hemp advocacy at school.
While the cases were eventually decided in favor of the parents, the incidents underscore a growing dilemma: While a pot plant in the basement may not bring criminal charges in many states, the same plant can become a piece of evidence in child custody or abuse cases."Associated Press, June 15, 2014.

NC Health News: A Closer Look at Foster Care in the State
"A 2013 scandal involving Wanda Larson, a Union County social services employee and a 11–year–old boy who was found handcuffed to a porch with a dead chicken hanging from his neck prompted state lawmakers to study policies for employees who serve as foster parents in the system."North Carolina Health News, May 30, 2014.

Group care for foster kids: critics seek phase–out
"According to Casey Foundation figures, some states, such as Kansas, now have 5 percent or less of their foster children in group care, while others — including Colorado, Connecticut and Rhode Island — have more than 20 percent."Associated Press, May 17, 2014.

We are abandoning children in foster care
"(CNN)—In 2012 in the United States, 23,439 children in foster care turned 18 and were 'emancipated' or 'aged out.' In simple terms, most of them were put out into the world on their own without housing, financial assistance or emotional support."CNN.com, April 17, 2014.

Auditor questions state child protective services
"The state agency charged with protecting children from abuse has neglected its own policies in thousands of cases, according to a new audit, heightening concerns among child welfare advocates who fear the Department of Children and Family Services has been stretched too thin to fulfill its function."The Advocate, April 15, 2014.

477 Child Deaths: How Florida preserved families but lost kids
"The children were not just casualties of bad parenting, but of a deliberate shift in Florida child welfare policy. DCF leaders made a decision, nearly 10 years ago, to reduce by as much as half the number of children taken into state care, adopting a philosophy known as family preservation. They also, simultaneously, slashed services, monitoring and protections for the increased number of children left with their violent, neglectful, mentally ill or drug-addicted parents.
The result: Many more children died."Tampa Bay Times, March 16, 2014.

Innocents Lost: Preserving Families, but Losing Children
"After Florida cut down on protections for children in troubled homes, deaths soared. The children died in ways cruel, outlandish, predictable and preventable."
Series of reports from the Miami Herald regarding Florida's "broken" Foster Care System, and how its 'Family Preservation' policies harm children.

Children, Families & Foster Care: Analysis & Recommendations
"This journal issue examines the current state of the foster care system and finds that it is really not a cohesive system but a combination of many overlapping and interacting agencies, all charged with providing services, financial support, or other assistance to children and their families. Lack of coordination among agencies, chronic underfunding, and low morale have led to a system that exacts a toll on everyone it touches."The Future of Children (Princeton–Brookings), February 11, 2013.

Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FFTA)
FFTA Headquarters
294 Union Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601–4303
Phone: (201) 343–2246
Toll-Free: (800) 414–3382
E-mail: ffta@ffta.org
The Foster Family–based Treatment Association (FFTA) was established in 1988 to develop, promote, and support Treatment Foster Care (TFC). Since that time, FFTA has grown to become the only national, non–profit association that represents treatment foster care programs across North America. FFTA's more than 400 member agencies are located in nearly every U.S. state and Canadian province and provide treatment foster care services to over 50,000 children and youth each year and a larger array of child welfare and mental health services to over 600,000 children and youth.FFTA